LODGE GRASS

Lodge Grass, which is on the Little Bighorn River and the Crow Indian Reservation, is the trading center for ranches whose herds graze the rich, grass-covered uplands where buffalo used to range. In the early days the Crows made their summer hunting camps here. The town was named for Lodge Grass Creek, which empties nearby into the Little Bighorn. The Indians called the stream "Greasy Grass" because the grass was so nourishing that it made their animals fat. The words for "grease" and "lodge" are so similar in the Crow language that an interpreter mistakenly translated the phrase as Lodge Grass. (from Cheney's Names on the Face of Montana, Mountain Press Publishing Company) The nearby Crow Agency is the headquarters of the Crow Indian Reservation and close to the Bighorn Canyon Recreation Area and Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument. Crow Agency becomes the tepee capital of the world in mid-August during the annual Crow Fair celebration.Other nearby attractions include Custer Battlefield Museum, Rosebud Battlefield State Park, and Tongue River Reservoir State Park.